Henry



(No Model.)

H. B. RIGGS.

WATER CLOSET SEAT. No. 553,789. Patented Jan. 28, 1896.

WITNESSES INVENTOR UNITED STATES PATENT O FICE.

HENRY B. RIGGS, O1 NEWV YORK, N. Y.

WATER-CLOSET S EAT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 553,789, dated January 28, 1896.

Application filed June 25, 1895. Serial No. 553,957 (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY B. RIGGS, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ater-Closet Seats, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

The object of my invention is to produce an improved water-closet seat which, on account of its peculiar features, possesses distinctly sanitary and cleanly properties.

Heretofore attempts have been made to produce water-closets made of materials entirely impervious to watersuch, for example, as rubber or the like; but such attempts have not met with entire success, owing to the fact that the material selected has proven objectionable, either because by wear its quality becomes impaired or because it is readily susceptible of variations in temperature.

By my invention I produce a water-closet having a surface that resists the action of moisture, and which, being of a non-conductive material, possesses sanitary qualities of special value for invalid or delicate persons.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure I is a top plan view of one form of my seat, showing a veneer of non-conductive non-absorbent material. Fig. II is a transverse section of the same. Fig. III is atransverse section showing an inlaid contact-piece.

Referring to the figures on the drawings, 1 indicates that which may be called the frame or supporting-body of my device. It may be made of wood joined together, as in the manufacture of the ordinary wooden seat, and provided with a suitable opening 2, having properly-beveled sides 3. Upon the surface of the frame so prepared I secure, as by suitable adhesive material not affected by moisture, a veneer or coating 4 of non-conductive non-absorbent material. The material which I prefer for this purpose is cork veneer, which, by the employment of wellknown machinery, may be cut to great thinness without impairing the grain of the material, but which renders it serviceable for the purpose in View and leaves it entirely durable and adapted for the wear imposed upon it.

I am aware that a contact-piece formed of a thin veneer of cork has been employed, as

shown in a patent granted to John J. \Veeks, dated February 13,1877,No. 187,437,and by my invention I overcome the tendency of the veneer to be forced from its proper position made possible by its inner or lower edge being unsupported except upon the inclined orbeveled sides of the opening. To eliminate the objection to such construction, I entirely inclose the wooden seat within the cork veneer, as shown in Figs. I and II, or make a continuous inner peripheral covering which extends around the inner periphery of the opening and to a considerable distance therefrom both above and below, both circumferential edges being inlaid, as illustrated in Fig. III. By this means it is impossible for the veneer to be sagged or bagged for the reason that both of its edges abut against the solid material of the seat. It order to so locate the veneer and to make it continuous from its upper to its lower edge it is necessary to apply it in separate radiating strips, fitting closely together and bent around the inner edge of the seat, as indicated in Figs. I and II. Such veneer maybe cut in strips or sections, or it may be cut into larger sheets, fully covering or approximately covering the upper surface of the frame 1. It is bent around the edge 5 to form a smooth inner periphery for the open ing 2. In its thinnest variety the cork veneer resists'moisture and is able thoroughly to protect the absorbent material of which the frame 1 is composed. Moreover, it is sufficiently non-conductive to prevent such changes of temperature as are liable to affect the most sensitive system. Instead of the cork veneer, other suitable non-absorbent non-conductive material may be employedas, for ex ample, a cork composition made of pieces of cork united together by some kind of binding material into a sheet.

One of the principal objects of my invention being to prevent that coldness in the seat which is liable to give a shock to invalids or delicate persons, it is necessary only to provide a non-conductive contact-piece upon the frame.

The entire frame need not be covered, as illustrated in Figs. I and II of the drawings; but only that portion which in practice comes in contact with the person, as shown at 5 in Fig. III of the drawings, requires such protection.

My XWLtGPCIOSGt seat is adapted to be attached for permanent use to a water-closet bowl, or it may be adapted to be removed and used as an auxiliary seat, in which case it may be hung up in proximity to the bowl and may be used as required by placing it upon the top of an ordinary seat, with which the bowl is provided.

\Vhat I claim is- 1. The combination with a water-closet seat having an opening therein of curved contour, of a non-conductive, non-absorbent veneer extending around the inner periphery of the seat and to a considerable distance therefrom both above and below the same, said veneer being composed of separate radiating strips, substantially as specified.

2. The combination with a water-closet seat having an opening therein of curved contour, of a non-conductive, non-absorbent veneer extending around the inner periphery of the seat and to a considerable distance therefrom 

